5 Songs You Should Hear Right Now

My weekly call to action to invite ya’ll to turn up the songs that have been rocking me all week long. Turn em up LOUD.

John Henry- “Work”

Coming up in the St.Louis music scene I’ve marveled the songwriting of John Henry for nearly 15 years now. His songs are always topical and fun at the same time. He’s the kind of artist who is going to tell you how he feels about something without you even realizing it. To me the greatest songwriters are always the ones who teach you a lesson without you even realizing you’re in class, and that’s John Henry to me.  His new single “Work” shows off Henry’s ever growing songwriting strength and always a solid band backing him up.

Deftones- “Genesis”

Chino Moreno said before the release of their new record , “Ohms”, that this record was going to be the heaviest thing they’ve done in a while and at first that concerned me to be honest. Sometimes bands make the mistake of making the heaviest record possible and forget to write a song while they do. This is not the case with “Genesis” whatsoever. The band gets better and better with time. Still combining Chino’s unique voice and heavy backbeat drums with a hooky and heavy rock song. There’s a reason why the Deftones have been around as long as they have, and “Genesis” is proof of that.

Miracle Legion- “You’re My Blessing” (Live At The Mercury Lounge)

I discovered Miracle Legion when I was in college, long after the band had broken up. Back in those days it was tough to get music from bands that didn’t have major distribution and almost impossible to collect their entire catalog without spending a ton of money. My favorite Miracle Legion record is their 1996 release “Portrait Of A Damaged Family”. I kid you not, I spent $75 on ebay in 2006 for the CD because it was so hard to come by.  So needless to say I was stoked to see they released a live album via their bandcamp page of the album’s release show at the famed Mercury Lounge in NYC back in 1996. This live album captures the band in the mid 90s, coming off the fame of performing “The Adventures of Pete and Pete” when they went under the name Polaris and life after the major label machine. It’s an honest live record paying tribute to an honest record, and 2020 needs way more of that.

Echo Pilot- “Harry Houdini”

Late last year, Echo Pilot kicked off their career as a band with their song “Field Day”. I immediately loved the song when I heard it and couldn’t wait to see the band live. Upon seeing the band live, I realized the band was way more intense live that I originally had thought. There’s an honesty the band brings on stage and you can tell all members are giving everything they’ve got. Their latest release, “Harry Houdini”, shows off their live aggression and honesty perfectly. The song shows a newer band growing into who they want to be, all while doing it in troubling times, but still doing exactly what they want to do.

Beyond Here- “Go There”

Beyond Here kicked off their career with a bang last year with their song “Young One”. The song still to this day gets more requests and calls when I spin it than most songs do. The band is unintentionally mysterious and they come off as a band you wanna know more about instantly. Their latest single, “Go There” displays the band growing into who they are and being unapologetic about it along the way. Beyond Here has this way of writing songs with serious hooks that have darker lyrics that make you truly respect the band. Sometimes bands can harness that kind of realness that really reacts with fans and Beyond Here is proof of that.